Steal
by KaleidoscopeColors
Summary: She was a mastermind, a genius robber, a cunning thief. When it came to stealing there was nothing she couldn't take away, no jewel, no work of art, no ethereal beauty that didn't fall within her palms. But how will being a mastermind thief and crafty robber help her steal away a human heart?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice.**

_`-;-`_

Fifty Eight…Fifty Nine…Sixty!

"Now!" The earpiece blares.

The girl clad all in black jumps gracefully onto the fence, her long brown ponytail billowing in the wind. She runs with speed and agility on the uneven thin fence wall all the way to the dark gothic building glowing like a castle in the moonlight.

At the end of the fence she leaps down, landing right in front of the large wooden door. Without preamble the small graceful girl pushes through the large oak doors and steps inside not hesitating as she walks to the middle of the foreign dim room. She squints in the darkness and puts on a pair of black sunglasses, pressing the small almost invisible button on the side to turn on the night vision. The room was large, consisting of big windows that covered a fourth of the high walls hidden by dark velvet curtains, to the side was a lone piano catching dust from inactivity and in the middle was a grand staircase leading to the rest of the mansion. She spied an oak table and chairs to the left and maroon sofas with a coffee table to the right.

"Ok, I'm in." She says breaking the silence in the large room.

"Take the stairs up to the third floor and turn to the left. Its three rooms down before you reach the large window in the middle. You have four minutes and thirty nine seconds till the alarms go off." A voice informs her coming through the small ear bud in her right ear.

The girl flies up the staircase as the monotonous voice continues informing her, "There are two copies of it side by side, the one to the left is a decoy, if you touch it another stream of alarms will go off and I haven't disabled them so make sure you grab the one on the right."

"Got it," she answers arriving at the third floor.

She counts down three doors and confirms the window in the middle of the hallway before turning the knob and entering the fourth room, her pace quiet as the soft wind.

"Three minutes and fifteen seconds," her covert earpiece cautions.

She walks to the middle of the room taking off her sunglasses; the moonlight gave off abundant light to brighten the area. She surveys the area as she looks around mentally mapping it out, fifty five steps to get across, about thirty feet wide, two windows–only one open. The paintings were at the side wall twenty paces from the open window and about three from the closed one. She walks up to survey the great artwork as another warning comes through the headphone, "Two minutes and thirty three seconds."

The paintings were identical, both had matching brushstrokes, expert shadowing and the same ethereal colors decorated both canvases. To the naked eye, they were indistinguishable, but the girl's expert eyes could see the small differences, the accidental mistakes.

But something was wrong. The painting on the left had the same soft brushstrokes but lighter shadows, it looked unrealistic.

"Hotaru, you said the second wave of alarms is attached to the left painting?" She asked in mild confusion.

She could hear typing as the response came through, "Yeah, it's the decoy made recently by the con artist Andou Tsubasa, it's an acrylic so we can't measure the time by the fluid dryness but the shadows give it away."

She was familiar with the con artist's paintings, knowing the swindler personally she could see his style and form in the art; he was an expert at shading, his shadows looked more realistic then the factual piece. But in the moonlight they were a dead giveaway. She could see which the fake was clearly. She reached to remove the authentic artwork from the wall but then suddenly stopped midway and quickly ducked as a small shuriken flew her way missing her cheek by centimeters.

The weapon wasn't thrown towards her; she knew it from the moment it came soaring that it didn't mean harm; it was just a distraction to let her know of the presence of its owner.

It circled the air touching only matter as it leapt back into the hands of its thrower. She straightened not looking back at her attacker as Hotaru muttered in her ears, "And he finally shows."

"Disable the alarms on the left painting," she whispers into her earpiece. A second later she hears insistent typing and the clicking of a tongue as the girl behind the scenes concentrates on immobilizing more security not questioning why it needs to be done.

The dark girl smiles looking at the painting, her pony tail flying as the small wave of wind comes from the open door, "Natsume," she greets.

The intruder walks over and stops lazily besides her looking at the painting as well, he doesn't answer or acknowledge her and talks without prelude, "So, now you're doing jobs by yourself?"

"Technically I wasn't by myself. You've been following me since I stepped foot in here." She answers; crossing her arms and turns to him with a cold smile. His raven hair had grown since she had last seen him, it made his face look younger and his red eyes softer.

"You knew and you didn't stop to say hi?" he asks turning to face her, his countenance was cold and red eyes frosty. She noticed he was dressed all in black as well. Dark pants, sleeveless black muscle shirt and onyx leather jacket. He had a thick brown belt around his waist that was identical to hers, and much like hers it most likely contained priceless gadgets made with technology the world was ignorant to.

"You have one minute left," Hotaru informs her.

She turns her eyes back to the painting but the boy besides her doesn't look away from her, "I'm in a bit of a hurry if you didn't notice." She says impassively.

"How could I not? You've clearly been busy lately." He says borrowing a hole at the side of her face.

She clenches her jaw but tilts her head as if mulling the painting over, "Well, it is a twenty four hour job." She turns to him and gives a fleeting smile as she dismisses him, "It was nice to see you. Take care."

She reaches for the painting on the right but the boy seizes it before she can touch the hard canvas. She turns to him, eyebrow raised, "I can't fail this job, I could get suspended if I don't bring that back."

Hotaru murmurs indifferently into her ear, "its disabled. You have thirty nine seconds left till the electric shock on the fence comes back. It will take longer to halt the second time around."

It had taken Hotaru three hours to immobilize the shock. That was almost twice the amount of time it takes her to disable normal security systems. She had to leave now.

Natsume smirks down at her and playfully flaps her ponytail with the back of his hand, brushing his fingers on the nape of her neck as he whispers, "All the more reason to take it then," And he was gone, jumping out the unlocked window into the night as stealthy as a cat, a stolen painting tucked under one arm.

"Get out now; there are only twenty four seconds left." The voice says urgent now.

The small thief smiles, her neck burning where Natsume's fingers touched. She turns to the painting on the left side and grabs it.

"Your carrying dead weight, fifteen seconds left and you have company." The voice breathes uneasily in her ear.

"Stop right there!" A shaky voice yells from behind.

She stiffens a little but doesn't turn, from the corner of her eye she catches a white and blue uniform and a small black gun pointed at her. She notices the person was standing by the open window, her escape.

She walks backward three paces until the lone security guard shrieks again, "I said stop! Put the painting down and turn around."

The art robber giggles a little and turns around quickly; she flashes a grin at the guard and watches as he blinks in surprise before Hotaru urges her, "Mikan, Seven seconds!"

Time. The greatest thief of all.

Before the security guard recovers the girl jumps out the locked window breaking through glass as she leaps down onto the soft grass. Without stopping to catch her breath she sprints across the lean and bumpy fence. "Two and a half seconds." The voice notifies just as the graceful thief jumps off the fence and disappears into the night shadows.

_`-;-`_

Mikan jumps through the open window of the hotel room. She drops the stolen painting to the floor and falls face flat on the bed. She sighs deeply, her voice muffled as she speaks into the soft mattress, "Barely made it."

Hotaru walks out of the shower wearing a fluffy white robe, she glares at the girl's tired form on the bed, "Next time you won't be so lucky." She says coldly.

Mikan straightens into a sitting position and rests her head back on the bed board as she throws an apologetic smile her way, "Sorry, I worried you again."

Hotaru walks to her bed, "Don't talk to me." She lies down and turns her face away from Mikan as she pretends to sleep.

Mikan grins and hops onto Hotaru's bed, "Are you mad?" She asks looking over at Hotaru's still face.

When no reply comes Mikan moves a bit back, "If it makes you so mad, I'll just do the jobs by myself."

Hotaru sits up quickly and snaps coldly, "Don't you dare."

The brunette smiles sadly in return looking at her through her eyelashes, "Well you don't like it when I do them." She mumbles.

Hotaru narrows her eyes, "That's because you never take any help and you always dive in without a plan. You're going to get yourself killed someday."

Mikan bites her lip to keep from smiling. Hotaru wouldn't appreciate it if she found out how sweet Mikan thought her being concerned was. Mikan grabs her best friend's hand, "I'm sorry, I promise I won't take risks like that again." She says earnestly.

Hotaru looks at her impassively, "I'm going to hold you to that. Break this promise and if the next job doesn't slay you, I'll annihilate you myself." She says tersely.

Mikan beamss from ear to ear and turns to grab the stolen artwork from where she dropped it on the floor, she hands it to Hotaru, "Another success."

Hotaru stares down at it, "How did you know this wasn't the fake?" She asks taking the canvas from her.

Mikan grins smugly, "It was easy, you said the shading gave it away. Tsubasa-senpai's shadows are a dead give away in the moonlight, they look like they're moving."

Hotaru scrutinized the painting with slit eyes, "You based it on that?"

Mikan shrugged, "It was a suspicion, and you confirmed it by telling me that the alarms were attached on the left one. They wouldn't put more security on a decoy."

_`-;-`_

**A/N: Yo! This was a pretty random drabble. I've been watching too many spy movies I guess…but do tell me your thoughts. Liked it or should I burn it to pieces? **


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice**

Natsume punched in the four digit code and the small light at the top of the two doors blinked green before the metal doors slid open to allow him entry. He took off his cat mask and walked through the doors swiftly looking back to see if anyone was watching. The moment he stepped in the room the doors shut, locking firmly in place.

The room he entered was gigantic with high ceilings and a large wide space. To the side were training sessions, boys and girls close to his age were on judo mats or chopping wooden blocks with their hands. A little way over, teenagers were on high class computers probably cracking codes and learning the different tactics to hack and track through electronic devices such as phones, cars or computers. He nodded to the people he knew as he walked slowly to the heart of the headquarters slowly.

He didn't bother to knock as he entered through the wooden door, if people were talking or planning; they most likely already sensed his presence or heard his silent footsteps through their trained ears. He walked idly, his stance lazy when he arrived at the desk in the middle. He lightly threw the painting on the empty desk and put his hands in his pocket as the black rolling chair behind the desk twisted, the person sitting on it turning to face him.

"Alice 34259 by Leonardo De Vinci retrieved at 1:15 a.m." He reported.

The man leaned forward slightly and took the painting from his desk. He regarded it blankly as he stared at the artwork. He didn't look at it the way a normal person would observe a masterpiece but like someone who was trying to find the hidden secrets in it.

After a few seconds of looking at the colorful canvas with expressionless eyes, the man put it back on the table and leaned back in his chair. He considered the boy with intelligent gray eyes, "They really are similar, no wonder our black cat was fooled."

Natsume narrowed his eyes at the man, "What are you talking about?"

The man smiled a soft smile, his eyes becoming gentle and Natsume suddenly knew the reason why. There was only one person that could make the cold and calculating headmaster cast such a tender face. His suspicions were confirmed as a dark figure walked out from the shadows behind Natsume, she greeted the man softly, "Uncle." She said the word kindly, an endearing undertone to her voice.

The man turned his face in her direction, "Mikan. Did you recover it?"

The girl stepped forward and Natsume noticed she was still wearing the same clothes he had seen her in, dark leather pants and a black hooded shirt. He noticed the end of a stun gun sticking out from the thick brown belt which hung from her hips identical to the one he wore. Her hair was still in a ponytail at the top of her, cascading down like a waterfall to her lower back.

She handed the man a painting and Natsume recognized it be the one next to the painting he stole, a flicker of a memory came to him, she had reached for this one first until he threw the shuriken and she diverted to the fake one, deceiving him into thinking it was the real one.

She had tricked him. She had purposefully reached for the phony the second time around to fool him.

Mikan spoke in a vacant voice as she reported to her uncle, "Alice 34259 by Leonardo De Vinci retrieved at 1:16 a.m."

The man looked at the painting with clear eyes then smiled at her and nodded, "Well done. Retire for the night; give me the written report in the morning."

She nodded and bowed a little before making her way out the door soundlessly.

Natsume watched her go and turned back to the man briefly, "I'll take my leave." He informed him as he turned to follow the girl out.

The man didn't stop him; he knew it would be pointless; the boy would walk away no matter what he said. He took the authentic artwork his niece had delivered and turned to dial on a small keypad by the side of the desk. The back wall behind the man moved apart like elevator doors and the man walked through to put the painting among thousands of other masterpieces. It sat there next to jewels, sculptures, canvases, statues, and countless historic remnants. Arts and treasures filled the room up to the ceiling.

He walked back and brought out a dark blue square object from the only drawer in his desk. The object was small, it fit into his palm; it had a small deep hole in the middle and a tiny finger scanner to the side. He put his pinky on the scanner and the object buzzed twice before it came to life. The projection of a life sized middle aged man shone through the dented circle in the middle, without introductions or any pleasantry, the man simply asked, "You have it?" in a thick British accent.

The gray eyed man nodded, "The Alice has been retrieved. It is ready to come home."

_`-;-`_

Mikan knew he was following her as she walked out of headquarters and into the dawn. Dew had cumulated on the green leaves and Mikan felt a cool chill before she jumped high and landed onto the thick branch of a big tree in the forest. She jumped from branch to branch, increasing her speed with every jump. She didn't want to deal with this right now. She was tired, it had been a long night and she needed her sleep.

But alas, her speed couldn't compare to his and soon he was catching up with her. So instead of jumping to the next branch where she knows he's likely to be waiting, Mikan climbs higher onto the tree, balancing her weight as she reaches the thin vulnerable branches and soars high.

She knows she has to face him eventually but she was hoping he would cool off until their overdue meeting came to be. She starts jumping from tree to tree again after she reaches the peak.

She doesn't hear Natsume anymore, she had stopped for a second to feel his presence or catch the sound of a stray leaf or even the snap of a twig when he jumped but there was nothing but empty stillness.

She frowns a bit but started jumping again, ignoring the slight disappointment in her stomach. It was better this way, she knew he was angry with her but there was nothing she could do or say that would make him happy or less irritated with her. She couldn't make promises to him like he wanted.

The hotel came to view and Mikan took one long leap that lands her straight onto the grey road that divided the green forest from civilization. The hotel was a block down, she would need to walk in the shadows or people would notice her abnormal outfit and question it. Standing out was never good for a thief who lived to conceal and hide.

She turns to walk across the road and then she hears it, the light almost soundless footsteps of someone from behind her. She recognizes the cat like stride immediately; it was always different from everyone else's, more predatory and graceful.

Natsume stops a few inches behind her; and knowing that if she runs he would only give chase, she sighs and turns around slowly to face him. She smiles up at him wryly, "You know when a girl runs away, it's usually a sign she's not interested."

Natsume had his normal poker face but his eyes were gentle and soft as they regard her, "I always thought it was because she wants me to chase after her."

"Not every girl." She stares at him meaningfully then looks away to the side at the forest they both came out from, "I'm tired Natsume, I need to sleep."

He doesn't say anything for a moment and when Mikan's sure there really was nothing to do but walk away, he answers her, "I am too."

She looks back at him with guarded eyes, and he finishes his sentence, "I'm tired too."

"Then we should both go and catch up on some much needed sleep." She says moving slightly away.

His hand shots out to grab her arm, "that's the problem. I'm always tired but I can't sleep either."

Mikan clenches her jaw, "Let go, Natsume," she says softly.

But his hold only tightens, "I can't sleep because you're either half way across the world or doing dangerous jobs that'll land you in the grave."

Mikan looks away again as he finishes, "I'm tired because chasing you around the world while you don't stop to look my way is exhausting."

Her eyes stay glued to the forest, refusing to meet his. She speaks in a cold voice, "Then stop chasing. Stop tiring yourself out."

Natsume's hold goes slack, "what?"

She shakes her arm free and moves a bit back as she answers, "Stop it. No one's asking you to exhaust yourself."

His lips turn into a hard line as he bites out, "You're telling me to go away?"

She knew she was being cruel but this was better then keeping him around and feeding him false hope, "I'm not telling you to do anything. I have no right to. It's not like you're my boyfriend."

"Look at me and say that." He demands.

Mikan snaps her eyes up to meet his hard ones, "Why is that a surprise to you? We never promised anything." She reminds him.

He steps up and walks closer to her so they're only centimeters apart. He looks at her with open eyes and she reads the hurt and sadness in them and looks away unable to meet his sincere gaze. Natsume reaches up and brushes his fingers against her cheek, "I know we never promised."

Mikan presses her lips together, refusing to look at him. He sighs in exasperation and bends his head a little as his hands cup her cheek. He turns her face towards him, searching her eyes, "If it's a promise you need then I'll promise now." He says softly.

Mikan's eyes widen. No.

If he does that, there's no going back.

She slaps his hands away, "For the last time Hyuuga, go away." She speaks in an icy tone but there was pleading in her voice and it didn't go unnoticed by Natsume.

He breathes deeply and looks at her with smoldering eyes, "Stop it."

"What?"

His gaze was intense enough to burn her to flames, "Stop pushing me away. Stop pushing everyone away. Why do you always insist on going off by yourself?"

Mikan cringes as she recognizes her own words coming from him. They were old; they were words she uttered in a past lifetime.

"_Stop pushing me away. Stop pushing everyone away. Why do you always insist on being by yourself?" A small girl with two pig tails had said, pudgy hands on her hips as she looked down at the little boy with raven hair lying down by the tree with a book over his face._

That's unfair. She had said those words long ago, too long ago. So much had happened in the gap between that time and now.

But she didn't have an answer for him so she simply turned and started walking away. Natsume blocked her, she tried to move past him but he was there again, standing in her way. She throws her hands up in frustration, where were all the graceful skills she obtained from all these years of training? How did this infuriating boy manage to break down all her defenses?

She side steps him and tries to sprint away but this time he grabs her and pulls her to him, hard. As much as she tries, in the end she was no match for a man's strength, she falls against his chest and he wraps his arms around her possessively, caging her in.

She struggles against his hold, pushing, kicking; she tries to squirm out of his iron grasp with all her might. But he holds tighter, squeezing all the breath out of her and when she doesn't give up even as her breath gets choked he groans loudly in frustration. He grabs her cheek roughly with his right hand and quickly brings his lips down to hers, kissing her full on the mouth. His kiss was hot and impatient; it was filled with fury and desperation.

_Why? Why are you trying to get rid of me?_ He tries to ask her through the kiss.

And that was it. She stops moving and squirming, she stands solid as he kisses her over and over again breaking down all the barricades she had tried to put up these past few months. And once again he claimed her heartbeat that pumped loud in her ears for him.

When they break apart Mikan gasps for air, her lungs painfully contracting against her ribcage. Natsume out of breath hugs her rigid form to him, breathing deeply into her hair.

She could feel his loud heartbeat against hers, mirroring her own crazy beat. She inhales his scent; he always smelled like musk and pinecones, so familiar and dependent. He smelled like home.

No. _You don't have one_. She reminds herself.

She closes her eyes and for just a moment relaxes in his arms. _I love you, _she wanted to tell him but she knew better. Those were words forbidden for her. She promised herself she would never utter them in her lifetime.

And so she did the only thing left to do. She knew his defenses were down. They always were with her, he trusted her too much.

But that would change after today. She reaches into her belt and when her fingers close around the familiar cool form of the stun gun she closes her eyes and breathes deeply.

She brings her hand up holding the gun behind his back. She hugs him back and whispers brokenly, "Sorry," and tazeres him in the back.

A shock goes through Natsume's body and he suddenly feels cold and heavy. He looses control of his muscles and starts falling to the ground but hands shoot out and steady him, keeping him standing. Small dependable hands, he notices. He looks up at their owner and meets teary hazel eyes.

He looks at her in confusion and just before the darkness takes him and his eyes flutter close, realization comes over him and he glares at Mikan in betrayal.

Mikan slugs his heavy body towards the nearest tree and lays him down against it. She wipes her tears away and without hesitation walks off not daring to look back at the still form of the love of her life.

_`-;-`_

_Six Months Later_

Moscow, Russia 9:38 p.m.

A small girl wearing a shapka-ushanka, the traditional furry Russian hat with large ear flaps and a long black fur coat walks into a large hallway arm in arm with a handsome young man. The boy he whispers something in her ear and she blushes before giggling and lightly hitting her companion's arm.

They both start there descend down the large staircase leading to the wide dance floor. As they walk down together heads turn in their direction, eyes filled with awe at the young couple's beautiful features. When they reach the bottom a man dressed in blue and green comes up and bows before them, "Могу ли я считать ваши пальто?"

The beautiful girl smiles at the man and answers, "Конечно, спасибо," she says in a sweet voice and removes her coat and hat, revealing a long velvety red evening dress underneath and a low twisted bun held together by a single pin that showed off the dangling silver earrings on her ears. She hands her clothes to him as does her date and the man bows at them before taking their clothes and walking away.

Mikan smiles charmingly at the people who stare at her as she walks around the room. Her date leads her to the center of the ballroom guiding her with a hand at the small of her back. Couples were dancing to a slow tune but as they notice the beautiful couple they slide away to watch their dance.

The handsome young fellow leads the dance suavely and the girl follows gracefully behind him. They dance to a slow tune, their dance elegant and refined all the same. At the second song, other couples start joining the dance partners.

"You look beautiful," the boy murmurs with a thick Russian accent in Mikan's ear. Mikan grins at him, "You don't look too bad yourself, Alexi."

"Blackout in twenty one seconds," Hotaru informs her through her right earring. Mikan presses a small button on the earring to heighten the volume.

She looks around the room and quickly spots the jackpot.

In the middle of the room encased in a tough thick glass was Lady Diana's sapphire necklace. There was a spotlight on the necklace and Mikan noticed dozens of roses around the glass.

"Fourteen seconds," the voice from her covert earring warns.

Mikan takes the lead and dances swiftly leading her partner to stumble after her, she moves closer towards the necklace and spins around in Alexi's arms while she makes daring dance moves until she's only a foot away.

Hotaru starts the count down, "Ten…nine…eight."

Alexi was suddenly nervous, Mikan probably didn't realize how close they were dancing but the proximity was making the handsome boy's cheek flame. He clears his throat, "You know Mikan, I had a great time with you these past few months," he says in a small voice. His companion looks at him a bit distractedly but she smiles brightly, "I had a lot of fun in Russia with you too. Вы великий человек," she tells him sincerely.

_Seven…Six…_

The boy smiles, feeling encouraged by the pretty girl's response, he takes a dare, "I mean your kind and beautiful. And I know you might not think this way about me but…" He loosens his collar as she spins around and comes back in his arms.

_Five…Four…_

She looks at him with confusion, "In what way?" She asks.

The boy's face becomes beet red and he confesses, "I really like you, I want to start dating if you're okay with it!" He says it all quickly as Mikan goes spinning out of his arms one last time.

Even though his words were jumbled Mikan heard him clearly which is why she was glad for what was about to happen next for it meant she didn't have to answer his confession. She lets go of his hand that was meant to pull her back to him and steels herself.

_Three…Two_

She removes the pin that holds her hair in a bun and thwacks it at the glass display. The pin sticks to the glass and makes a small black web. Mikan watches with narrowed eyes, holding her breath as the red light from the web stares back at her. She counts to three and the light blinks blue. The sensors on the glass were disabled.

…_One!_

The lights in the room blinks once and then completely shut off. Darkness fills the large ballroom and Mikan hears women scream in terror and the men swear colorfully in Russian.

Her earring blares, "You have seventy two seconds until the back up generator automates on."

Mikan quickly walks to where the priceless jewelry is on display. She bunches up her dress and fishes out a fake necklace from the thigh sleeved pocket under her long slippery garment. She seizes a dark red lipstick from the pocket and rotates the bottom until a chunk of the lipstick comes out. Mikan makes a small circle in the clockwise direction into the glass.

In the background she hears the host of the party trying to calm his guests down, "The generator will soon turn on." He says in English though his accent is undeniably Russian. "Please calm yourselves ladies and gentlemen," he says in the international language probably guessing his foreign guests have a better chance of understanding English then Russian.

The red circle burns and Mikan pokes it with her finger, it slides down and she catches the broken piece just before it falls to the ground. She quickly removes the authentic necklace and puts it in a clear case then throws it in her thigh sleeve.

"Twenty Six Seconds," her best friend reminds her.

Wiping the cumulating sweat from her forehead, Mikan puts the circular glass piece back in its place and traces the red stain pattern on it with the same lipstick, this time in the counterclockwise direction.

The noises in the background didn't calm or quiet down, if anything the women were screeching louder. The host had most likely confused his local Russian guests who didn't speak English.

She counts to three and then pokes the glass to see if it's loose. The fixture turns to be permanent. Mikan sighs in relief before putting the laser lipstick back. She lets her dress fall around her as she wipes the lipstick stain clean with her dress thanking whatever fate it was that made her choose this color over the white dress.

"Four Seconds." An urgent voice comes through.

Mikan wipes her forehead, "I'm done." She reassures Hotaru walking a little away from the now sham necklace.

She hears insistent typing, "Then why does it read that the sensors on the glass are still disabled?" Hotaru says in a panicked voice.

Mikan's eyes widen and she whips her head back to see the black spider web blink blue.

"One Second!" Hotaru practically screams.

Mikan rushes to the thick rectangular glass prism and quickly removes the sticky object from it and promptly fists it in her palm. And just as she practically runs to put distance between herself and the display the lights blink on, momentarily blinding her. She looks around to see many people staring at her; she was standing only inches from where the spotlight was shinning on the bogus necklace. She was the closest person to the billion dollar necklace.

Crap. She would have to act her way out. She looked around wildly, her loose hair flying manically to find her date. Alexi spots her first and runs towards her; Mikan tightens her fist around the black now mushy substance as Alexi comes up to her.

Her date hugs her tightly for a moment then releases her quickly and holds her at arm's length to study her features, "Are you okay?" He asks her, voice thick with concern.

Mikan swallows down her guilt when she meets his worried gaze. She looks at him with thick tears in her wide eyes, "I don't know, I was looking for you…and then-it was dark and I-" she hiccups and Alexi hugs her tightly again.

"Shh, it's okay now." He whispers to her as he soothingly pats her hair.

People were still looking their way, this time for a completely different reason. Her handsome companion releases and frowns, he was rubbing her bare arms with his palms soothingly, "Are you cold? Your arms are freezing." He says lightly touching her arms.

She stiffens when his hands touch her closed fist, he looks at her quizzically, "What are you hol-" Mikan makes an impulsive decision as she stretches both her arms behind the young boy's neck and draws him down to kiss him full on his lips.

He responds eagerly as his hands snake around her waist drawing her closer. He kisses her back passionately and Mikan goes rigid in his arms, her lips freezing over. Her companion doesn't seem to notice her lack of response as he lets himself get lost deeper into the kiss, biting down on her lip to practically shove his tongue down her throat. Mikan fists her palms as she tries to keep herself from throwing this far too eager boy across the room.

Then thankfully someone clears their throat and Alexi releases her. He blushes crimson and wipes his lips quickly as he meets eyes with an old man with a bushy white mustache and about three hairs on his head. The man smiles at the couple in amusement, his eyes crinkling at the corners, "Alexi, why haven't you introduced this lovely young lady to your father yet?" The man asks and Mikan recognizes the voice of the host that was trying to calm the room down during the blackout.

"Forgive me, папа, this is Mikan, my new girlfriend." He says looking down at Mikan with large bright eyes. "Mikan, this is my father, Duke Dimitri Coservana," he informs her with a smile.

Mikan turns to the man and smiles a fake, polite smile as she shakes his outstretched hand, "Pleased to meet you, your party is wonderful."

The old man laughs loudly, the sound booming around the room, "Yes, I can see that you're enjoying yourself." He turns to wink at his son.

Mikan's smile freezes but she keeps it in place. He gestures towards the display, "Have you seen Lady Diana's necklace? It's my greatest treasure." He says proudly.

This time Mikan's lips form a genuine smile as she answers, "I have. It's very beautiful."

_`-;-`_

**A/N: I wanted to make this longer but I'm really sick and I don't even know what possessed me to write this. Maybe it's because I have nothing to do…Well tell me what you think, I would love to read your reviews as I lay miserably in bed.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice**

"I don't know how to thank you for this." The woman says in Russian.

"It was my job; you don't need to thank me for retrieving an Alice." Mikan replies back in fluent Russian, her hands in the pockets of her thick black coat and a short blond wig on her head.

"I'm so grateful; I thought I would never see it again." The old woman's eyes tear up and she hugs the necklace to her chest.

Mikan smiles, "take good care of it."

The woman nods, tears falling down her cheek. "Lady Diana gave it to me as a wedding present; she said it was her gratitude to me for serving her all these years."

"It was always yours; don't let anyone take it away from you again." She tells the woman taking a step back.

The woman wipes her eyes and looks up to convey her gratitude again but the girl that had stood only a foot away from her had disappeared like the wind. In the distance the old lady spies a black car pull away as the wind blows her grey hair and the woman sighs again hugging the necklace that contained memories and promises of her girlhood.

_`-;-`_

"You have a phone call." Hotaru tells her as soon as Mikan sits inside the car.

Mikan takes off her coat and is about to take off her wig but stops and reaches for the phone. She gives Hotaru a quizzical look but Hotaru simply hands her a small black iphone. Mikan takes the object and puts it by her ear, "hello?"

"Mikan Sakura, what in God's name are you doing in freaking Russia?" A masculine voice on the other end screeches.

Mikan pulls the phone away from her ear as the voice screams, she looks at Hotaru in panic but the stoic girl wears a satisfied smile that send chills down Mikan's back.

Mikan turns back to the phone, "Uncle?"

"Oh look, she still remembers she has an uncle." The voice says dripping with sarcasm.

Mikan bites her lip, she could deal with stolen treasures, atomic bombs, even an airplane crash, but at the sight of her angry uncle, she was helpless and dare she say, scared to her bones. She clears her throat, "I-I had a job, uncle." She tells him in a small voice.

"Hell Mikan. One job I can allow, but twenty seven jobs in the last six month? That's kind of hard to swallow." He replies in a hard voice.

Mikan presses her lips together firmly, "Why does it matter, I've finished every job flawlessly," she mutters.

"It does matter! You were lucky you didn't get caught!" He yells at her.

Mikan flinches but holds her ground, "I deactivated a nuclear bomb on the Chinese warship, I stole the Mona Lisa from the greatest museum in the world, and I just stole Lady Diana's necklace back from the duke of Russia. How does that count as lucky?"

Her uncle sighs, "You may be a genius thief but you're still a sixteen year old girl."

She bristles, "Dad was thirteen when he-"

He cuts her off as he replies cruelly, "And his dead now because of his carelessness."

Tears spring to Mikan's eyes as they usually do at the mention of her dead father, "How can you say that? It wasn't his fault he died."

Her uncle hears the thickness in her voice, "We're not talking about this. You're coming home right now."

Mikan laughs bitterly, "I'm in Russia, Uncle. You can't make me."

And as though she had tempted fate, the car suddenly screeches to a stop and Mikan looks out the window to see her Uncle's private jet staring down at her. Her eyes widen and she snaps her gaze to Hotaru but her friend was equally as shocked as her.

"You underestimate me, looks like your training isn't complete. What if it was an enemy you underestimated?" He asks but doesn't wait for a response and shuts the phone.

The phone falls from Mikan's grasp and she thinks among the haze of her fury, _I'm not so sure you aren't my enemy anymore, Uncle._

She debates fighting the large men in black suits that open the door to the car to let her out but when she steps out into the cold winter wind she sees that there are about a hundred other built men waiting by the plane for her. Damn her uncle for planning so well.

But she's a fighter and she can't just give up so she tries to escape but when Hotaru's hand shoots out to grab her arm she stops in her footsteps. She looks at her partner in crime, "We can get out of this." She says sure of herself.

"I know." Hotaru tells her and pulls her towards the airplane.

Mikan follows her and ascends the temporary steel staircase onto the plane. "But even if we run now, he's going to just catch us later. You can't run away from family." She says and lets go of her arm to take a sofa seat by the window.

Mikan takes a seat opposite to her and throws her legs over the small coffee table. _I know_, she thinks bitterly. As much as she wanted to try, she knew blood bonds were unbreakable.

The air hostess comes by after a few minutes and offers them both refreshments, Mikan denies but Hotaru accepts and demands crabs as well. Mikan looks at her in amazement, the girl could eat crabs anywhere, Mikan couldn't eat in the airplane; it always made her sick.

The pilot announces that the flight is scheduled to land at 6a.m. in Tokyo, Japan the next morning, in approximately seven hours.

Mikan settles deeper into her seat, the only good things about private jets were their comfy seats and that they get you to your destination faster than the average airplane.

Alices. Alices were stolen objects. They were valuables ranging from jewels and artworks to newly developed technology. Most were historic and the people they were stolen from were usually helpless and incapable. Her father's family had opened a whole school dedicated to nurturing geniuses to become capable thieves that can steal back Alices and return them to their original owners. They named it Gakuen Alice. It may sound odd but these Alices usually held important information, they held plans for a bomb or war plans hidden in a painting or jewel. They were strong and capable of destruction so they needed to be retrieved and protected.

Thirty minutes till landing Mikan gets up and changes out of her disguise. Japan's weather was less cool than Russia's so she strips out of the fur coat and the furry hat and throws on a maroon hoodie and a simple pair of washed out jeans. Mikan washes off the makeup she had on as part of her disguise and the dark blue contacts in her eyes. She takes off the small blond wig and lets her long brown hair tumble down her back before gathering it in her hands and putting it in a high ponytail atop her head.

When she leaves the bathroom, she's back to Mikan Yukihara, a Japanese girl, not a Russian heiress.

She walks back to Hotaru and straps her belt on as the plane lands. Here we go, she thinks as the airplane lands on the Yukihara private property in the airplane.

Mikan walks out of the airplane, a brown leather bag across her shoulder. She digs through it to make sure there was nothing that would raise suspicions when she goes through security. She finds a small handgun and throws back inside the airplane before digging out her passport.

She finds a redhead Gwen, a blond Natasha and a dark beauty Ayesha. She digs deeper and finds three more strangers and then finally finds her own identity and walks down to the high ceiling and immaculate structure of the airport.

_`-;-`_

"Don't you want to get your bags?" The security guard asks her.

She shakes her head, "No, this is all I have." She says patting the bag across one shoulder at her side and walks out into the city of Tokyo.

"You don't look like a Gwen," a familiar voice says from her left.

Mikan turns to see her seven identities in the palms of the boy she tried every moment in the past six months to forget. "I can pass as a very convincing redhead actually," she tells him.

He hands her back the passports and Mikan notices he doesn't touch her skin at all.

"Your uncle wants to see you right now." He tells her looking at the city, his face a mask of indifference.

"Hence the reason I'm in Japan." She explains unable to look away from him. She didn't know what to say. I deactivated a bomb from a warship, thought I let you know, or how have you been the past half year? Did you miss me? Do you hate me now? Is it possible you've gotten hotter since the last time I saw you?

"Then let's go." He says as yet another black car pulls up in front of Mikan.

Mikan raises her eyebrows, "He sent you to get me?" She had to give it to her uncle, if it was anyone else she would've tried fighting her way out but with Natsume…well, props to the old man for planning so well.

A man in a dark black suit opens the door for them and Mikan sits inside. Natsume gets in from the opposite side of the car and sits as far from her as the car allows him to.

Its only then that Mikan realizes Hotaru isn't with her, she looks around but the car starts moving, she's about to tell the driver to stop but Natsume seems to hear her unspoken question as he usually does, "Imai went home, she wanted to meet her parents."

Oh. That's right. Mikan feels the jagged shards of guilt settle in her stomach when she realizes that Hotaru had been away from her family for six months because of her.

The rest of the car ride was silent, Natsume stared out the window pretending she didn't exist and Mikan counted the number of ways to escape out of the car to keep herself entertained. She could choke the person in front of her with the strap of her bag and kick Natsume with her left leg if he tried to stop her. She could jam the car lock with a bobby pin and break the door open. She could-Mikan looked out the window to see the familiar building of Gakuen Alice come into view.

The car turns and she watches as the iron gates of the academy open to let the car through. Her heart rate pummels, and a feeling she only ever gets when she's on a theft mission overcomes her.

The car stops in front of a large white building with a red and brown roof and dark double doors. The man from the passenger seat gets out and opens her door again, she sighs and gets out, stepping onto the familiar ground of her school whose every acre, cracks and bumps she had memorized since the age of four.

"The principle is waiting for you in his office." The man tells her.

Mikan nods and moves towards the building. She feels someone behind her and turns to see Natsume standing a foot behind, following her inside. She raises her eyebrows at him.

"My orders were to escort you to him." He tells her shortly, his voice cold and strange.

It was the way he talked to everyone, teachers, strangers, classmates, rude and unfamiliar. He never talked to her like that before.

_You asked for this_, she reminds herself and starts the long walk to her uncle's office.

She keeps her gaze straight ahead but she feels students stop what they're doing and turn to stare at her. It was passing period most likely and in a school with trained thieves, it wasn't odd that Mikan's every move was being watched and calculated. It's what she would do too; it was what they were all taught to do. Watch, observe, calculate.

But thieves or geniuses, they were still teenagers, which is why it was also completely normal when their whispers were heard by Mikan's trained ear.

"_Dude, is that Mikan Yukihara?"_

"_Did you hear, she deactivated a bomb using a bobby pin?"_

"_No way, she's so cool."_

"_She's hot; do you think she's single?" _

Mikan bites her lip to keep from smiling at the last one. She feels someone near her and notices that Natsume was besides her now, no longer trailing behind.

From the corner of her eye she watches about a dozen teenage boys move a few feet away from her. This time she can't help the small smile that cracks on her lips.

At the end of the hallway she takes two staircases, another hallway and a thousand more stares before making it to her uncle's office.

She knocks on the wooden door even though she knows he had most likely heard her footsteps from a mile away. When she hears a curt 'come in,' she pushes the door open and steppes inside.

She turns to see Natsume looking at her but when their eyes meet he turns his head away and walks off.

She spins around to meet the angry grey eyes of her uncle. Again, she was at a loss as to what to say or do.

But she was spared because her uncle spoke already having a plan set. He throws an envelope at her, it lands on his desk right in front of her. Mikan picks it up and looks at him in question.

"Congratulations, you're officially a student at Gakuen Alice as of today." He tells her tersely.

**A/N: Thank you everyone for all your reviews! I was really happy to read them, I hope you liked the chapter-I know my writing is amateurish. So I would gladly accept advice as well! I wanted to write more but the next chapter became really long so I had to cut it off there. I don't know if you prefer long chapter though…but anyway, more stuff happens in the next one and yes, yes I know, there's no fluff, I promise to try and add in the next chapter, I'm going more for angst though. **

**With much love,**

**KaleidoscopeColors**


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